Long-Range Voice and Data Transmission Using LoRa Modulation and Sensitivity-Enhancing Buffering Techniques

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are disclosed for extending the communication range of mobile communication devices. A long-range radio device is controlled by a control application on a host smartphone. The long-range radio device provides signal paths for two different radios, one employing a long-range (LoRa) modulation format, and another employing a high data-rate encoding such as FSK. The system provides graceful degradation in data rate as radio link distance increases and received signal strength decreases. In addition to switching between radios, variable compression and buffering are used to adapt usage to supportable data rates. Voice, other audio, video, text, binary, and other data formats are supported, as also a wide range of co-resident host apps. Unidirectional and bidirectional links can be used.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/302,086, filed Mar. 1, 2016, entitled LONG-RANGE VOICE AND DATATRANSMISSION USING LORA MODULATION AND SENSITIVITY-ENHANCING BUFFERINGTECHNIQUES, and is also a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/436,405, filed Feb. 17, 2017, entitled COUPLINGOF RADIO HARDWARE WITH A MOBILE DEVICE ACTING AS A SOFTWARE DEFINEDRADIO, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/645,171, filed Mar. 11, 2015, entitled COUPLING OF RADIO HARDWAREWITH A MOBILE DEVICE ACTING AS A SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO, which claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/951,953 filed Mar.12, 2014, entitled COUPLING OF RADIO HARDWARE WITH A MOBILE DEVICEACTING AS A SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO, filed Mar. 12, 2014. All of theabove are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to device-to-device voice and datatransmission and more specifically to voice over LoRa.

BACKGROUND

The effective range of device-to-device voice and data transmission isaffected by many factors including transmit power, antennacharacteristics, receiver sensitivity and system cost. Range limitationsdefine the usable coverage area for radio communications with greaterrange generally equating to better user experience. As the range of aradio system decreases, so too does its usability, adoption, andcommercial viability.

Present solutions to the problem of range limitations in wireless voiceand data communications typically include increasing the transmit power,increasing the gain of the transmit and/or receive antenna, andleveraging low-noise architectures to increase receiver sensitivity. Inmobile applications, increasing the gain of the antenna is not alwayspossible due to form-factor constraints. As mobile applications arefrequently power-constrained, increasing the transmit power results inperceptibly reduced battery life, to the detriment of device longevityand user experience. There are regulatory limits to the maximumallowable transmit power, so arbitrarily increasing the transmit powerto achieve greater range is not considered a viable solution.

Present solutions optimize singularly for range, seeking to maximize therange without consideration for how functionality can be adapted to bestsuit varying operating conditions. This fails to recognize that multipleoperating modes can be utilized to provide the best overall userexperience. Accordingly, there is a need for improved technologies tosupport radio communication over extended ranges and poor conditions,consistent with battery and power constraints of portable devices, andwithout compromising performance in favorable or intermediateconditions.

SUMMARY

In summary, the detailed description presents innovations in the art ofwireless communication to/from a mobile device and between mobiledevices, providing a greatly extended communication range withoutcompromising full-featured performance at short distances, whilerespecting the battery life constraints that are critical for mobiledevices.

In a first aspect, a long-range radio device is disclosed that providestwo or more radios for uni- or bi-directional communication undervarying conditions. In examples, a LoRa radio is provided forintermediate-range to long-range and low-data rate operation, and an FSKradio is provided for short- to intermediate-range and higher maximumdata rates. The long-range radio device can be operated as an adjunct toanother communication or computing device such as a smartphone.

In a second aspect, a software control application is provided for ahost device such as a smartphone to interface with and control thelong-range radio device. The software control application can beembodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, or can beembodied in a host device such as a smartphone. The software controlapplication is operable to interface with existing apps on the hostdevice, a GPS or location/satnav device on the host device, a localinterface such as Bluetooth. The software control application can beprovided together with a encoder/decoder/compressor/decompressorsubsystem for processing voice and other data.

In another aspect, a system is described combining the long-range radiodevice, the host software control application, and other optional hostmodules. In a fourth aspect, a radio link is described comprising twosuch systems.

In another aspect, methods of operation is provided includingtransmit-side and receive-side operation, including LoRa and FSK orother radio signaling, and including voice, other audio, video, andother data types.

In another aspect, methods are provided to utilize one or more of avariety of inputs to determine and switch between operating modes of theaforementioned communication system. These inputs can include receivedsignal strength readings, and GPS or another location-finding or satnavsubsystem. Besides switching between FSK and LoRa radios, the LoRaoperating mode can be controlled, and the data rate, compressionparameters, and associated buffering can be controlled.

The disclosed embodiments have other advantages and features which willbe more readily apparent from the detailed description, the appendedclaims, and the accompanying figures (or drawings). A brief introductionof the figures follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The Figures and the following description relate to preferredembodiments by way of illustration only. It should be noted that fromthe following discussion, alternative embodiments of the structures andmethods disclosed herein will be readily recognized as viablealternatives that may be employed without departing from the principlesof what is claimed.

Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying figures. It is noted thatwherever practicable, similar or like reference numbers may be used inthe figures and may indicate similar or like functionality. The figuresdepict embodiments of the disclosed system (or method) for purposes ofillustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize fromthe following description that alternative embodiments of the structuresand methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing fromthe principles described herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of components of an example machineable to read instructions from a machine-readable medium and executethem in a processor (or controller).

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system according to the disclosedtechnologies.

FIG. 3 illustrates a relationship between distance and received signalstrength.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart for operating methods according to thedisclosed technologies.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a long range radio device ableto be coupled with a mobile device according to the teachings of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a representative embodiment of theelectronic functional components necessary for a long range radiosystem.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a dual-band radiosystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 and the following description relate to preferred embodiments byway of illustration only. It should be noted that from the followingdiscussion, alternative embodiments of the structures and methodsdisclosed herein will be readily recognized as viable alternatives thatmay be employed without departing from the principles of theembodiments.

Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying figures. It is noted thatwherever practicable, similar or like reference numbers may be used inthe figures and may indicate similar or like functionality. The figuresdepict embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in theart will readily recognize from the following description thatalternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated hereinmay be employed without departing from the principles described herein.

Configuration Overview

Embodiments of a disclosed system, method, and computer readable storagemedium enable communication between mobile devices, or between a mobiledevice and a fixed station. In some embodiments, a control applicationon a smartphone controls a proximate long-range radio device supportingtwo radio standards, one of which is a long-range or low-powertechnology such as LoRa. The control application receives voice or datafrom an interface or app of the smartphone, and forwards the voice ordata after processing to the long-range radio device for encoding andtransmission to a remote radio station.

In some embodiments, the remote receiving radio station is substantiallysimilar to the transmitting station. A received radio signal is decodedand forwarded to a smartphone, where a control app processes thereceived signal and delivers the received signal to an app or interfaceon the remote smartphone, thus completing the communication path.Information can similarly be transmitted in the reverse direction fromthe remote station to the local station.

The control app can switch between a long-range/low-power radio andhigher data rate radio as one or both stations move, or conditionschange for other reasons.

Computing Machine Architecture

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an example machineable to read instructions from a machine-readable medium and executethem in a processor (or controller). Specifically, FIG. 1 shows adiagrammatic representation of a machine in the example form of acomputer system 100 within which instructions 124 (e.g., software) forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein may be executed. In alternative embodiments, themachine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g.,networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine mayoperate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in aserver-client network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may be a server computer, a client computer, a personalcomputer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a web appliance, anetwork router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executinginstructions 124 (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to betaken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute instructions124 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 100 includes a processor 102 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), adigital signal processor (DSP), one or more application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), one or more radio-frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs), or any combination of these), a main memory 104, and astatic memory 106, which are configured to communicate with each othervia a bus 108. The computer system 100 may further include graphicsdisplay unit 110 (e.g., a plasma display panel (PDP), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT), alight-emitting diode display (LED), an organic light-emitting diodedisplay (OLED), a quantum diode light-emitting diode display (QD-LED),or an electrophoretic display). The computer system 100 may also includealphanumeric input device 112 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 114 (e.g., a mouse, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, orother pointing instrument), a storage unit 116, a signal generationdevice 118 (e.g., a speaker), and a network interface device 820, whichalso are configured to communicate via the bus 108.

The storage unit 116 includes a non-transitory machine-readable medium122 on which is stored instructions 124 (e.g., software) embodying anyone or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Theinstructions 124 (e.g., software) may also reside, completely or atleast partially, within the main memory 104 or within the processor 102(e.g., within a processor's cache memory) during execution thereof bythe computer system 100, the main memory 104 and the processor 102 alsoconstituting machine-readable media. The instructions 124 (e.g.,software) may be transmitted or received over a network 126 via thenetwork interface device 120.

While machine-readable medium 122 is shown in an example embodiment tobe a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be takento include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to storeinstructions (e.g., instructions 124). The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring instructions (e.g., instructions 124) for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies disclosed herein. The term “machine-readable medium”includes, but not be limited to, data repositories in the form ofsolid-state memories, optical media, and magnetic media. Specificexamples of machine-readable media include non-volatile memory,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices (e.g., ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices);magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The termcomputer-readable storage media does not include signals and carrierwaves. The term computer-readable storage media can refer tonon-transitory storage media. In addition, the term computer-readablestorage media does not include communication ports.

Long-Range Voice and Data Transmission

Example embodiments relate to sending (or transmitting) compressed oruncompressed voice and data using a combination of Frequency-ShiftKeying (FSK), Long Range (LoRa) modulation and intelligent buffering.FSK and LoRa modems are functionally similar, but differ markedly inperformance. FSK is a comparatively unencumbered modulation scheme. LoRarealizes lower maximum data rates owing to the degree to which thetransmit spectrum is spread. The LoRa architecture allows a lower-costand lower-power device in a smaller form factor to send voice and dataover longer ranges. In some examples, bands near 900 MHz can be used,while in other examples, disclosed technology can be adapted for use onother frequency bands, including, but not limited to, VHF and UHF bands,or other bands such as 10 MHz-88 MHz, 88 MHz-108 MHz, 108 MHz-500 MHz,500 MHz-900 MHz, 900 MHz-1 GHz, 1 GHz-2.4 GHz, 2.4 GHz-2.5 GHz, 2.5GHz-5 GHz, 5 GHz-6 GHz, 6 GHz-10 GHz, or 10 GHz-100 GHz.

Example System Architecture

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system 200 according to the disclosedtechnologies. This example embodiment includes an application 220 hostedon a smartphone 210 and operable to control system operation, and along-range radio device 250 housing the radio system along with devicesubsystems to support the configuration and operation of the radio 250.

An example of a smartphone computing architecture (in part or whole) isdescribed with FIG. 1 and the corresponding computer system 100. In someembodiments, certain components depicted as hosted within smartphone 210can be incorporated within long-range radio device 250 and vice versa.Also included in smartphone 210 are a positioning subsystem 212, a localinterface 249, and a user interface 214 comprising microphone 215,touchscreen 217, and speaker 219. The positioning subsystem 212 can be aGPS block 212 as depicted, or an alternative such as GLONASS, Galileo,Beidou, Compass, Doris, IRNSS, or QZSS. One of ordinary skill will alsoappreciate that microphone 215 and speaker 219 can be implemented asstereo or array devices using amplifiers and transducers integratedwithin smartphone 210 or housed externally, for example in a headset(not shown). Similarly, touchscreen 217 can be implemented or augmentedby a keypad, a keyboard, buttons, an external display including gogglesor an augmented reality display, or annunciators. The smartphone 210 canhost a variety of applications (“apps”) 230 a-n that can process,generate, or receive voice or other data. Such apps can includemessaging apps, phone apps, camera and imaging apps, entertainment apps,financial apps, location apps, mapping apps, medical apps, securityapps, sensing apps, storage apps, video apps, or other services.Smartphone 210 also hosts compression subsystem 224, which can includevocoder block 224 for compressing or decompressing voice or audio data,and a data de/compressor block 226 for compressing or decompressingother types of data. Compression subsystem can include a range ofencoders/decoders suitable for different signal types. One of ordinaryskill will appreciate that compression/decompression capabilities canadditionally or alternatively be built-in to any one or more of apps 230a-n.

Turning to the long range radio device 250 in FIG. 2, among includeddevice subsystems are an interface 251 to the smartphone 210, acontroller subsystem 260 incorporating a local microprocessor ormicrocontroller 262 and a signal strength monitor 264, a transceiversubsystem including modems 281 and 285, and a power subsystem 270incorporating a battery 272, battery management circuitry 274, and powerregulation circuitry 276. Long-range radio device 250 communicates withsmartphone 210 using a dedicated connection between local interface 251and a corresponding interface 249 on the smartphone 210. The connectionbetween the smartphone 210 and long-range radio device 250 may be wiredor wireless and use any protocol or standard with sufficient bandwidthfor transmitting voice, data and command/control instructions. In oneexample embodiment, a Bluetooth Classic interface is used to connect thesmartphone 210 and the device 250.

In addition to the microprocessor or microcontroller 262 shown, thecontroller subsystem 260 can incorporate an architecture similar toarchitecture 100 shown in FIG. 1, including any one or more of thecomponents shown in FIG. 1. Also shown in FIG. 2 is a signal strengthmonitor 264, which can provide an indication of received signalstrength, which in turn can be used to make a determination to switchbetween FSK and LoRa communication. One of ordinary skill willappreciate that signal strength monitor 264 depicted as part of thecontroller subsystem 260 can be incorporated within transceiversubsystem 280, or can be distributed between these two subsystems. Thecontroller subsystem 260 receives commands and data from controlapplication 220 via the local connection between local interfaces 249,251. Commands are acted upon and/or responded to as appropriate for eachcommand; data is forwarded to transceiver subsystem 280 for transmissionto a remote system 298. The controller subsystem 260 forwards datareceived from the remote system 298 via transceiver 280 to controlapplication 220 over the same local connection. The controller subsystem260 also reports and responds to the control application 220 over thelocal connection.

In addition to LoRa modem 281 and FSK modem 285, the transceiversubsystem 280 includes transmit/receive signal chains (comprisingcomponents such as one or more of amplifiers, filters, transducers,mixers, up-converters, down-converters) 282, 286, and antennae 283, 286.Although the radio components are shown as separate for the LoRa and FSKradio signal paths, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that one ormore components can be shared between these signal paths. For example,the modems 281, 285 can be fabricated on the same silicon die and caneven share circuit blocks. For example, through the use of wideband ormulti-band RF or microwave components, antennae or signal chaincomponents can also be shared between LoRa or FSK signal paths. One ofordinary skill will further appreciate that the discussion above is notlimited to LoRa and FSK: in embodiments using additional or alternativeradio technologies or standards, all of the above considerations areapplicable.

Control application 220 running on the host smartphone 210 configuresthe operating parameters of the radio device 250, acquires the voice ortext data that is to be transmitted by a user 201, optionally compressesit using a vocoder (voice) 226 or general-purpose compression block(data) 228, and controls display or playback of received data and voicetransmissions for the user 201. The smartphone application 220 enablesthe buffering of voice and data in low-bandwidth operating modes as ithas access to sufficient storage in buffer 222 to record and slowlytransmit large messages. Furthermore, the smartphone control application220 allows for changes to the vocoder 226, data compression block 228,protocol, and modulation schemes through configuration of application220, or by a software update to an application (such as the controlapplication 220, the compression subsystem 224, the local interface 249,or another module) on the smartphone 210.

Configuration of the radio device 250 can include: configuring thereceive mode of the radio (e.g. frequencies used, demodulation schemeused, scanning capabilities or single frequency use, etc.); configuringthe transmit mode of the radio (e.g. frequencies used, modulation schemeused, whether transmitting is allowed, etc.); determining what types offiltering are used for signal processing (both radio frequency and audiofrequency and other relevant signal enhancement), determining what typeof interference mode is utilized (e.g. error correction method forspread spectrum techniques, identification of cooperating radios, etc.);determining signal detection functionalities (similar to filtering, butoften incorporating more complex analyses); generating power adjustmentmethods (e.g. adapting signal strength relevant to atmosphericconditions or proximity of the second radio communication device);determining appropriate battery mode (e.g. specifying how the radiodevice power subsystem 270 is managed in conjunction with the powerneeds of radio device 250); determining appropriate antenna mode (e.g.antenna selection, pre-amplification, etc.); and other configurable orcontrollable aspects of radio communication.

Example Use of Dual Radios

The system described herein provides increased voice and data rangeprimarily through improved receiver sensitivity. Receiver sensitivity isimproved relative to other radio systems by use of a LoRa modulationtechnique and by reduced digital data rate. The maximum bit rate of anRF channel is proportional to the bandwidth of the modulated spectrum.Spreading the spectrum enables detection at a lower signal-to-noiseratio (SNR). The sensitivity of a radio receiver is directlyproportional to the minimum SNR, so as this minimum SNR decreases so toodoes the numerical value of sensitivity (where a lower numbercorresponds to better performance).

FIG. 3 depicts a graph 300 showing a relationship 310 between distance(plotted on the horizontal axis in FIG. 3) and received signal strength(plotted on the vertical axis). Distance represents a line-of-sightdistance from a transmitter, such as remote system 298 and a receiversuch as in long distance radio device 250. The transmitter power andchannel conditions are presumed to be unvarying along the curve 310.Under some conditions, received signal power varies as 1/D², where D isthe abovementioned distance. Operating conditions for FSK and LoRaradios are indicated on the graph 300 as follows. FSK radio sensitivityis indicated by horizontal line 322, and indicates the minimum signalstrength required for signal reception at a specified maximum bit errorrate (BER) which can be 10⁻³, 10⁻⁶, 10⁻⁹, 10⁻¹², or any other value orsub-range within 10⁻¹-10⁻¹⁵; the maximum BER can be specified on the rawsignal or after processing with e.g. error-correcting codes. Generally,the FSK radio can be successfully operated at signal strengths greaterthan or equal to the sensitivity line 322, as indicated by the arrow“FSK.” This operating region also corresponds to distances less than orequal to a maximum FSK range shown by vertical line 324. Similarly, LoRaradio sensitivity is indicated by horizontal line 332, and indicates theminimum signal strength required for signal reception at a maximum biterror rate specified in similar manner as for the FSK radio. Thus, theLoRa radio can be operated at signal strengths greater than or equal tothe sensitivity line 332, as indicated by the arrow “LoRa.” Thisoperating region also corresponds to distances less than or equal to amaximum LoRa range shown by vertical line 334.

One of ordinary skill will appreciate that higher data rates arepossible for greater signal strengths; this is indicated on the graph300 by arrow 340. Furthermore, the sensitivity lines 322, 332 are alsodata rate dependent; sensitivity can be lowered (improved) for lowerdata rates as described elsewhere herein.

Turning back to FIG. 2, the long-range radio device 250 of system 200includes both FSK and LoRa modems. In one embodiment, the LoRa modem 281and FSK modem 285 reside on the same silicon and are selectable atruntime. The LoRa modulation technique uses a combination of chirpspread spectrum (CSS) and direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) toenable reception of signals of very low signal-to-noise ratio(sub-unity). Digital data rate reductions are achieved through the useof various compression techniques or through the introduction of latencyto the transmission process. One byproduct of reducing the amount ofdata to be sent through the use of compression is that the data can betransmitted more slowly. Reducing the amount of data allows morereliable detection of weak signals by the receiver. If the data ratesare slower than the data rates for real-time voice transmission, theaudio may not be played back as it is received. A buffering process isused to store the voice message on the transmitting system, transmit itslowly to the other device over the RF channel, and play it back oncethe entire message has been received.

The disclosed technique accounts for variability in link quality causedby many factors, most notably users moving closer to, or further awayfrom one another. Existing technologies present with a static solutionconceding that the performance of the radio system is fixed by theoperating environment. By including both LoRa and FSK, enhanced userexperience and greater functionality is provided by adapting themodulation scheme and data rates to optimally suit current conditions.Functionality is selectively enabled or disabled based on observedoperating conditions in order to provide higher performance. Forexample, if users are in close proximity, the users may negotiate atransition from LoRa to FSK to enable high-bandwidth data transfer,switching back to LoRa modulation when the transfer is complete. Ifusers are near or beyond the limits of the FSK radio, operation remainson LoRa and data rates scale in inverse proportion to distance ofseparation. When data rates are sufficiently reduced to precludereal-time voice operation, the application transitions from real-time tobuffered mode wherein latency is intentionally introduced to allowcontinued communication.

Two methods for estimating range are used: direct observation usingshared geolocation data and estimation based on received signalstrength. Each of the example method may be executed on a machine, forexample, the computer system 100 described in FIG. 1. The methods may beembodied as software. The software may be referenced as computer programcode or code segments and may be comprised of one or more instructions,e.g., instructions 124.

Continuing with the method, the received signal strength is directlymeasurable by the radio receiver, and decreases with increasing range.Since environmental factors other than range can affect the receivedsignal strength, the received signal strength is used as a proxy forrange. Operating mode adjustments are made regardless of what specificfactor affects the received signal strength. Based on the rangeestimation, a modulation scheme is chosen. The range thresholds used fordetermining modulation configuration and other radio parameters areprogrammable. As transmit power and other important factors directly orindirectly affecting received signal strength may vary, with temperaturefor example, it is desirable to be able to modify these thresholds insitu. Thus the functionality of the system is scaled in response to achanging operating environment. Although voice data, text message data,and geolocation data are disclosed herein, any data of interest that iscompatible with data throughput constraints can be accommodated.

Alternatively or additionally, thresholds can be implemented directly onthe received signal strength. Thresholds can be implemented withhysteresis, so that a threshold (distance, or received power) fortransitioning to a LoRa radio can be set to a different value than for areverse transition to a FSK radio.

The radio parameters that are configured by the smartphone application220 include transmit power, center frequency, frequency hop sequencing,bandwidth, spreading factor, etc. The complete set of configurableparameters will be specific to each different radio integrated circuit.

Example Operating Method

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart 400 for operating methods according tothe disclosed technologies. The operating flow of the system isdescribed as follows with additional reference to FIG. 2. The left-handside of flowchart 400 represents process blocks performed by controlapplication 220, with separate columns for audio signal flow (includingvoice) and data signal flow. The right-hand side of flowchart 400represents process blocks performed by long-range radio device 250, withseparate columns for LoRa signaling and FSK signaling. Additionally,dashed line 450 separates a transmitting system (above the line 450)from a receiving system (below the line 450). In this way, flowchart 400depicts several distinct operations flows.

A user 201 speaks into the microphone 215 on the smartphone 210 (or intoan attached headset, not shown) and the voice signal is digitized andreceived at 410 by control application 210. The digitized voice signalis encoded and/or compressed (420) by software in the vocoder block 226resulting in a substantial reduction in signal bandwidth. The compressedvoice signal is packetized within the framework of a custom protocol fortransmission (430) to the radio device. This transmission is enabled bya Bluetooth connection between local interface 249 on the smartphone 200and corresponding local interface 251 on the radio device 250. Uponreception at the long-range radio device 250, the local controlmicroprocessor 262 within the radio device 250 processes the packetaccording to the aforementioned protocol and relays the voice data tothe radio transceiver 280 for transmission. As described herein, eithera LoRa radio or an FSK radio can be used according to the operatingconditions and control logic. When the LoRa radio is selected, the datais encoded (441) in a LoRa modem 281, processed through Tx signal chain282, and transmitted (447) via antenna 283. Similarly, when the FSKradio is selected, the data is encoded (443) in a LoRa modem 285,processed through Tx signal chain 286, and transmitted (449) via antenna287.

The process works in reverse for the reception of voice signals. Here aremote receiving system 298 will be described having similar structure200 as the transmitting system at which process blocks 410-449 areperformed; one of ordinary skill will appreciate that the same referencenumbers are used for description solely for purpose of illustration, andthat in typical embodiments, the receiving system and the transmittingsystem are distinct.

According to operating mode, LoRa signals are received (451) at antenna283, processed through Rx signal chain 282 and decoded in LoRa decoder281 to reach controller subsystem 260 of a receiving radio device 250.Alternatively, FSK signals are received (453) at antenna 287, processedthrough Rx signal chain 286 and decoded in LoRa decoder 285 to reach thecontroller subsystem 260. The local microprocessor 262 packages data oraudio (including voice) received by the radio transceiver 280 andtransmits (460) the packaged data to the smartphone application 220using the Bluetooth connection between local interfaces 251 and 249.Upon reception (465) at the smartphone, the data is processed accordingto the type of application data that was received. Voice data is decoded(470) using vocoder block 226 to recreate the original voice message andreproduced or played (490) out the device speaker 219 (or attachedheadset, not shown) for the user 201 to hear. The voice message canoptionally be stored (480) on the receiving smartphone 210. In caseswhere buffering is used, the buffering is implemented on the hostsmartphone 210 using buffer 222.

The operating flow of process blocks 410-490 has been describedparticularly with regard to a voice signal, which may also involve phoneapps 230 b or instant messaging apps 230 c on both transmitting andreceiving systems. An operating flow for other audio signals similarlyfollows process blocks 410-490, however the audio encoding/decoding canbe performed by encoders/decoders that are not voice-specific. A widerange of audio encoders/decoders can be used, following lossy standardssuch as AAC, MP3, SBC, or Vorbis, or following lossless standards suchas ALAC, APE, FLAC, TTA, or WMAL.

The operating flow of data signals is similar to that described forvoice signals above. On the transmit side, the control application 220receives a data signal at 415, which may be sourced from any app 230a-n, from the operating system of smartphone 210, or by the user's entryvia touchscreen 217, another user input device, or from an externallyattached storage device. At 420, the data signal is compressed by datacompressor 228. The subsequent operating flow from process blocks430-465 proceeds substantially similarly to that described above forvoice signals, using either LoRa or FSK signal path according to theconfiguration and operating conditions. At process block 475, on areceiver smartphone 210, the data signal is decoded by decompressor 228,following which the data signal can be optionally stored (485) orreproduced (495). Reproduction of the data signal can take the form oftext or graphical display on e.g. touchscreen 217. In some embodimentsor configurations, the received data can be stored at 485 withoutdecompression.

Geolocation data is provided by the GPS block 212 included in theoperating system software. Voice encoding and compression is implementedin software or firmware, by vocoder block 226. In one embodiment, aG.729 vocoder algorithm is used. Received text messages are stored inthe smartphone application and displayed on touchscreen 217. Receivedvoice messages are able to be played in real-time when as they arereceived, and/or stored for playback later, at the user's convenience.

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES

FIG. 5 is an exploded illustration 500 of an exemplary long-range radiodevice 520 operable in conjunction with a mobile device 512. Aprotective case 502 encloses components and, in some examples, can beconfigured to receive and releasably secure a mobile device 512. Anantenna 504 is coupled to the protective case 502, which in certainembodiments may be fixed in an extended form from the case 502, while inother embodiments may be collapsible to reside within the case 502 whennot in use and extended when in use. In other embodiments, the antenna504 may be incorporated entirely within the case 502. Radio electronicsor device 506 exist embedded within the case 502, and in someembodiments, a rechargeable battery 508 may further be embedded withinthe case 502. The radio electronics 506 embedded in the case 502 mayinclude those illustrated in FIG. 2, for example a radio controller 260,transceiver 280, etc.

The protective case 502 allows the radio electronics 506 tocommunicatively couple with the mobile device 512 as previously noted,with some embodiments using a direct connection 510 as an interface toconnect the mobile device 512 and radio electronics 406. The mobiledevice 512 and radio electronics 506 may be connected in a wired or awireless configuration. In the wired configuration (illustrated in FIG.5), the interface connector 510 includes an opening through which aconnection such as a USB cord or the like may be threaded, theconnection corresponding to a data port of the mobile device 506.Alternatively, the communication device 500 may include a port whichconnects directly with the data port of the mobile device. It should benoted that various makes and models of mobile devices 512 will havevarying data port configurations, and the cases 502 and connectors 510of the present disclosure may be configured and manufactured toaccommodate those makes and models. In other embodiments, connector 510is absent, and a long-range radio device similar to 520 is wirelesslycoupled to mobile device 512. The wireless connection may be made usingBluetooth® technology, Wi-Fi, or other technology known in the art.

Thus, the complete protective case 502 is a single unit consisting ofmultiple assembled components which, in conjunction, allow for wirelessor wired coupling of a mobile device to a long-range radio device. Insome embodiments, mobile devices 512 for use with the case 502 can haveunique dimensions, connection types, and connector locations, and assuch each case 502 may have mobile device-specific configurations.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a representative embodiment 600 of theelectronic functional components necessary to interact with a long rangeradio system. An RF circuit 602 includes the circuitry necessary forlong-range communication capabilities, as previously described. The RFcircuit 602 interconnects to an onboard controller circuit 604 via DCpower and analog signals as well as control signals, as indicated. Theonboard controller circuit 604 can interconnect with voltage and powercircuits 606, also via DC power and control signals as indicated.Finally, if a rechargeable battery 608 is further connected, it isinterconnected with the voltage and charge system 606. These componentsare connected via the onboard controller 604 to the mobile device 610,which manifests the software component of the long-range radio.

FIG. 7 is a functional descriptive circuit diagram of one possibleembodiment of a dual band long-range radio 700, which can be asoftware-defined radio. Component 702 represents the transmit-receiveswitching and various frequency band selection capabilities of theantenna. Components 704 are representative of the various filtering,amplification, and control circuits for sending and receiving radiosignals. Components 706 show two transmitter and receiver bands, A andB, of which additional bands may be used as desired. Component 708provides the software interface point for the various control andanalog/digital conversions. This control point 708 interfaces with themobile device 710, manifesting the software component of the long rangeradio system 700.

Additional Features

In some embodiments, two communicating stations are substantiallysimilar; each station can be mobile, and can include a smartphonehosting a control app and having a variety of other apps and interfaces,together with a long-range radio device as described. Both stations canbe capable of bidirectional communication. However, many otherconfigurations can also be supported by the disclosed technologies. Inexamples, one station can be a fixed station, such as a base station,access point, or server. In examples, one station can be integrated,with control app and long-range radio integrated in a single housing. Inexamples, a mobile station can run its control app on a laptop, tablet,or other portable computing device, or on a computing device mounted ona vehicle. In examples, two communicating stations can be enabled foronly unidirectional communication between control apps, with limitedbidirectional link-layer signaling between the long-range radio units,for the purpose of negotiating connections and switching between radiostandards. In examples, unidirectional signaling can be supported from amobile station to a fixed station with no reverse communication at all:the mobile station can select between radio standards based on thedistance between its location and the known location of the fixedstation, while the fixed station can listen on both radio channels.

In some embodiments, a mobile station according to disclosedtechnologies can be powered by a battery, such as lithium-ion, lithiumpolymer, alkaline, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, or lead-acid.However, battery power is not a requirement. A mobile station can bepowered by solar power, a fuel cell, a thermoelectric generator, aportable fossil fuel generator, an energy harvester, or even a smallsealed transportable autonomous reactor.

In some embodiments, communication between a smartphone or other hostdevice and its associated long-range radio is performed usingBluetooth®, however other wired and wireless technologies can be used.Among wireless technologies, DECT, IEEE 802.11 (including a, b, g, n, y,ac, or ad clauses), IEEE 802.15, IrDA, Near Field Communication (NFC),Ultra Wideband, Wireless USB, or ZigBee standards can also be used.Among wired standards, Firewire, IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet family), IEEE1901, Thunderbolt, or USB can be used. Optical technologies such asLi-Fi or IEEE 802.15.7 can also be used.

In embodiments, signals may be encoded and/or decoded multiple timesover the communication path from a transmitting app at a first stationto a receiving app at a second station. As described herein, the controlapp at a transmitting station can route a speech signal to a vocoderwhich can encode the signal to achieve compression and bandwidthreduction. Correspondingly, at a receiving station the control app canroute a received signal to a vocoder to recover the speech signal. Datasignals can similarly be compressed (and decompressed) by any of avariety of data compression function blocks. Thus, basebandencoding/decoding can be performed at a station, for example by asmartphone, for the purpose of compression/decompression. Inembodiments, baseband coding can additionally or alternatively provideencryption/decryption. The baseband coding functionality can bedynamically varied according to selected radio, distance, receivedsignal strength, remaining battery life, or other parameters.

As described herein, the long-range radio device can perform encoding ona signal to be transmitted according to a selected radio standard. Inexamples, the signal can be encoded using CSS for LoRa transmission, orusing frequency-shift keying for FSK transmission. Thus, radioencoding/decoding can be performed at a long-range radio device for thepurpose of modulation. In embodiments, encoding/decoding can alsoperform security functions, such as frequency-hopping, or signalspreading.

Additional signal encoding/decoding can also be performed, for exampleover a Bluetooth® or other local link.

In some embodiments, the location of a smartphone is obtained from a GPSmodule integrally incorporated within the smartphone. However, otherlocation finders can be used with the disclosed technologies, includingsubsystems, modules, services, and/or auxiliary units using anysatellite navigation (satnav) technologies reported herein, or otherradio, celestial, inertial, or magnetic position finding technologies.

The present disclosure often refers to a mobile device or cellulartelephone as a smartphone. It should be understood that the termsmartphone encompasses other forms of mobile computing devices. A“mobile device” is any portable device normally utilized forcommunication, specifically not including any device with existingcapabilities using LoRa modulation, as described for example in SemTechApplication Note AN1200.22 dated May 2015. Such devices may includecellular telephones or any other device operable over the cellulartelephone network, tablet computers, laptop computers, music players,and any other devices which can make use of the internet (either wiredor wireless, such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX, LTE, etc.), or other similar devicesnormally utilized for communication and can contain a microphone andspeaker or equivalent, e.g. via a plug-in or connectable via wirelesstechnologies (e.g. Bluetooth®), and also capable of executing software.An exemplary smartphone is a mobile device which allows the user tomodify the functionality to personalize the set of software applicationswhich can be executed on the mobile device. Such applications mayinclude a World Wide Web (WWW or web) browser, camera and videorecording capabilities, tracking and logging software (e.g. vehiclemileage tracking), and global positioning software for location-finding,as well as multimedia applications for watching movies or listening tomusic. Further, the applications may include vendor-specific content,such as restaurant reviews or television programming. Practically anytype of software application may be created for use on a smartphone.

Additional Configuration Considerations

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently. Additionally, the operationsmay be performed in an order other than the order illustrated.Structures and functionality presented as separate components in exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium or ina transmission signal) or hardware modules. A hardware module istangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computersystem) or one or more hardware modules of a computer system (e.g., aprocessor or a group of processors) may be configured by software (e.g.,an application or application portion) as a hardware module thatoperates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically, and may be configured to perform certainoperations either permanently or temporarily. For example, a hardwaremodule may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanentlyconfigured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC)) to perform certain operations. A hardware module mayalso comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassedwithin a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor) thatis temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors (e.g., asdescribed with FIG. 1) that are temporarily configured (e.g., bysoftware) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations.Whether temporarily or permanently configured, such processors mayconstitute processor-implemented modules that operate to perform one ormore operations or functions. The modules referred to herein may, insome example embodiments, comprise processor-implemented modules.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., application program interfaces (APIs).)

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Some portions of this specification are presented in terms of algorithmsor symbolic representations of operations on data stored as bits orbinary digital signals within a machine memory (e.g., a computer memoryas described with FIG. 1). These algorithms or symbolic representationsare examples of techniques used by those of ordinary skill in the dataprocessing arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilledin the art. As used herein, an “algorithm” is a self-consistent sequenceof operations or similar processing leading to a desired result. In thiscontext, algorithms and operations involve physical manipulation ofphysical quantities. Typically, but not necessarily, such quantities maytake the form of electrical, magnetic, or optical signals capable ofbeing stored, accessed, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwisemanipulated by a machine. It is convenient at times, principally forreasons of common usage, to refer to such signals using words such as“data,” “content,” “bits,” “values,” “elements,” “symbols,”“characters,” “terms,” “numbers,” “numerals,” or the like. These words,however, are merely convenient labels and are to be associated withappropriate physical quantities.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this regard.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the invention. Thisdescription should be read to include one or at least one and thesingular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meantotherwise.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate still additional alternative structural and functionaldesigns through the disclosed principles of the embodiments. Thus, whileparticular embodiments and applications have been illustrated anddescribed, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not limitedto the precise construction and components disclosed herein. Variousmodifications, changes and variations which will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art may be made in the arrangement, operation and detailsof the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departing from thespirit and scope as defined in the appended claims.

1. A system comprising: a long-range radio device comprising: a firstlong-range radio modem; a second high data-rate radio modem; a firstlocal interface; and a controller; and a control application executingon a host device having a second local interface; wherein the long-rangeradio device and the control application are operable to communicateover a link connecting the first and second local interfaces; whereinthe control application is operable to control the long-range radiodevice; and wherein the controller of the long-range radio device isoperable to select the first radio modem responsive to a first commandreceived from the control application, to select the second radio modemresponsive to a second command received from the control application,and to communicate data between the first local interface and a selectedone of the first and second radio modems.
 2. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the first long-range radio modem conforms to a LoRamodulation format.
 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein thesecond high data-rate modem employs frequency shift keying.
 4. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the link connecting the first andsecond local interfaces is a wireless link.
 5. The system according toclaim 4, wherein the wireless link is a Bluetooth® link.
 6. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the link connecting the first and secondlocal interfaces is a wired link.
 7. The system according to claim 1,wherein the host device is a smartphone.
 8. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the control application controls selection of the firstor second radio modem at least partially based on a received signalstrength indication.
 9. The system according to claim 1, wherein thecontrol application controls selection of the first or second radiomodem at least partially based on a location reported by a locationfinder.
 10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controlapplication controls at least one of: buffering, compression parameters,data rate, or transmit power.
 11. A method for operating an extendedrange radio system having a long-range radio and a high data-rate radiofor communicating with a remote station, comprising: monitoring a signalindicating a distance between the extended range radio system and theremote station; in at least a first case responsive to the signalcorresponding to a decrease of the distance, selecting the high-datarate radio and deselecting the long-range radio; and in at least asecond case responsive to the signal corresponding to an increase of thedistance, selecting the long-range radio and deselecting the high-datarate radio.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the monitored signal isa received signal strength.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein themonitored signal is a position determined by a location-finder.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: subsequent to selecting thelong-range radio, applying buffering to a communication.
 15. A methodfor operating a radio system, comprising: by a control application on asmartphone: receiving a source signal comprising voice or data; causingthe source signal to be compressed; transmitting the compressed signalover a local link to a transceiver comprising first and second radiossupporting different respective wireless standards; at the transceiver:receiving the compressed signal over the local link; forwarding thecompressed signal to a selected one of the first or second radios;encoding and transmitting the compressed signal according to thewireless standard of the selected radio.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the compression is performed according to parameters at leastpartly based on an allowable data rate of the radio system.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the source signal is a voice signal, andfurther comprising: by a vocoder on the smartphone: compressing thesource signal.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the selected radio isa long-range radio, and further comprising: by the control applicationon the smartphone: reducing a bandwidth required for the transmitting bycausing the compressed source signal to be buffered.
 19. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the first radio is a long-range radio, and, when theselected radio is the first radio, encoding comprises applying CSSmodulation.
 20. The method of claim 15, further comprising: at thetransceiver: receiving a second signal according to the wirelessstandard of the selected radio; decoding the second signal; andforwarding the decoded signal to the control application over the locallink; and by the control application on the smartphone: receiving thedecoded signal over the local link; causing the decoded signal to bedecompressed; and forwarding the decompressed decoded signal to adestination, wherein the destination is at least one of: a storagemodule; an interface of the smartphone; or an app on the smartphone.